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"Literally from the horses mouth" = brilliant.

Agree. Have said that on here a few times.We were predicted by Mark Evans in his explanation for not giving us a PO last year, to be getting Clark back ( didn't happen ), getting Hogan in the side ( didn't happen ), Toumpas and Watts to improve ( didn't happen ), start to climb the ladder ( didn't happen ) and on top of this lost the experienced Sylvia the 4th player to leave us recently under new rules, Rivers, Moloney and that number 1 pick of a couple of years back and now possibly will lose an AA experienced Full Back, the 5 th player to leave, making us less experienced than last year . Add to that another year, being year number 9 at the bottom of the ladder. Surely we qualify now for a PP.

Who's Dillon Shield??

Close to my all time fav as well though Robbie will never lose that mantle for me. I've recounted this story before on DL but my favorite Wizard moments and one of my all time favorite footy moments was at that game he kicked 9 after half time, against Collingwood in 2000. Before kicking his first he had 1 kick , 1 handball and 1 mark. I was in my usual spot on top of the Ponsford and this moronic redneck Magpie fan, sitting right in front of me had yelled abuse at Farmer for the whole first half and well into the second - most of it racist , but in a way that that he probably thought was clever. Farmer 'looking for a handout again' was one of his favorite lines. What was worse was that he had his 10 year old son with him. I told him to pipe down but he just got worse and in those days (not that long ago is it) you didn't really get security (though i probably should have). In any case Farmer did the work for me by going wild in the second half. I never gave the yahoo a single opening to have a shot at me because i never directed anything at him. However I could not have yelled more enthusiastically and made sure every shimmy, kick and mark by the Wiz was loudly appreciated and highlighted. The redneck got quieter and quieter and eventually skulked of halfway through the last as the dees ran away with it. Gold

So nothing different to his usual demeanour then RPFC??

The club will apply for a PP and has a strong case for it. Personally, I don't think we'll receive an early PP, however we may be a shot at an end of first round/ second round PP. Either that or the PP is well and truly dead and the AFL should label it that way. Last year the basis for the decision was that the list did not reflect our performance due to two prime factors (developing players + injuries), this year our ladder position truly reflects our list. FFS, we have won 36 of the last 171 games, annualising that figure suggests that we will win one more game for the year, leaving our total at 37 wins from 176 games (8 seasons), an average of 4.5 wins per season, or alternatively, a winning percentage of 21%. As a comparison, the only team with a lower winning percentage than us over the last 8 years is GWS (12.4%), Gold Coast has an annualised winning % of 30%. I’ve compared our last 8 seasons to teams in a similar position to us currently (cbf doing it for Richmond/ Carlton) – WB (47%), Brisbane (38.9%), St K (52.9%). The AFL stated that we had a group of highly talented youngsters that were developing, and said that we had a successful 2012 draft due to the amount of games played by 2012 draftees. Players listed in the article as talented and developing - Watts, Toumpas, Trengove, Tapscott, Blease, Barry, Grimes, Hogan, Viney, M.Jones, Terlich and Kent. Of the 12 players listed only 4 (Watts, Grimes, Viney and M.Jones) have played regular top level footy, with Hogan being the only one to suffer a serious injury. The AFL expected that a number of injured players were due to return - Clark (4 games), Dawes (12 games), Frawley (was playing injured). Injuries have been similar this year (Trengove, Hogan & Spencer), although the players this year are arguably less important to the teams success. Yes we have improved, however the stats above speak for themselves. It’s also likely we will have lost 2 players in the 2014 leadership group in the prime of their careers. Although it depresses me, it’s hard to make a case that we will be much better next season (which is what the AFL alluded to in not giving us a PP last season). Articles about the AFL’s decision: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-09-23/no-priority-pick-for-demons http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-09-22/dees-priority-pick-in-doubt

I have little doubt that Frawley is going - it all sounds so familiar to others who have gone from Dees/other clubs. I wish he would stay. If he goes as I predict - I would never especially boo him etc. - but he will no longer be a Melb man so he will be the enemy and we should not care about him or anything that happens to him. Way back I didn't care that Alves and Wells went and I was rapt for them that they got to play in Premierships at North/Carlton - because they gave fantastic service to the Dees, they were right at the end of their careers and the Dees were a basket case. I still take an interest in Jarrod Rivers - probably silly of me. But if Frawley walks away from the Dees - his choice - but he should be persona non gratis as far as the MFC is concerned.

I have no idea where he is going but my gut instinct tells me he is gone. I did hear Nathan Buckley on AFL 360 - he was asked about Frawley. His reply was so stilted, fumbled and basically poor that I am now convinced on one of two possibilities 1/ Frawley is signed, sealed and delivered to Collingwood; or 2/ Buckley is in desperate need of a course on how to handle fairly simple questions from the media.

Man up ? Name another footballer who said he is going before the end of the season (I think Bock (or Davis ?) said he was going to Gold Coast just before the last game of the season and was promptly dropped). This idea of him telling the club now is such a nonsense - it is necessary for no-one except skittish supporters.

Lets be honest, if frawley leaves and that compo pick results in us landing Jeremy Cameron people will be saying Chip who? and marvelling at how we have without a doubt two of the most exciting key forward prospects in a long time

I really think anyone close enough to Dylan Shiel to know his true thoughts on what might transpire post season, would also know his name is not "Dillon Shield."

True. And then once Thompson leaves, Jacques gets an infraction notice, and things start to get really interesting ...

There should be none. It should be the clubs' responsibility to manage players so that they're as fresh as they can be when the club feels it's most important (usually the end of the year).

The issue with bye weeks from a neutral perspective is you turn off instead of flicking over. Or that's how I feel. Saturdays and Sundays I'll watch footy if it's good but not so much if it's bad. Most rounds there's a chance to just watch the better games. And of course there is data but you might not find it! I'd rather watch a team with a few being rested than no team at all but taking out JKH, Viney and Tyson decreases our shot at winning and I don't want to watch losses. I'm willing to put with 1 bye a year instead of us losing a game with good players on the side line.

What team gets into this without it being 'their own incompetence'? This argument is without validity; whether you don't pick well, or trade away good players, or have them leave, or delist competent pros, or 'top up' with compromised players, or have a series of poor coaches, or improperly develop players for years - it is that team that 'brought it on themselves.' St Kilda are bottoming out by trading their best players for picks, retiring players and playing a great number of young players after having a coach for years that recruited a great number of recycled players instead of developing young players. How can one differentiate the two? The argument that we 'have screwed up our chances' isn't an argument against us getting more chances, it is an argument FOR us to get more chances and nuts to our competitors who benefitted from our incompetence and are now trying to not give a sucker an even break.

It would be interesting, and a step in favour of transparency, if there was more public information on the operations of the umpiring department at AFL. I'd love to know; - how much detail is available for umpire review; is there an umpire's version of champion data? Is there a dedicated observer/statistician at every game? - similarly, does the umpriing department have consistent, evidence-based methods for tracking performance over time and identifying specific problem areas? - how do umpires get their feedback? - what structures are there, or could/should there be, to create a protective wall between media, football politics, knee-jerk administrators and the umpiring department? Until that last one is sorted, the rest is academic. Umpiring needs to be as protected from football politics as ballot boxes are from party politics. In both 'law' and 'convention' it needs to be established that "one does not lightly meddle in the affairs of the adjudicators". My suggestions for re-establishing this culture; - end the practice of wiring umpires for sound to public media. - 'official' umpiring reporting should discuss only the round as a whole, and not focus on specific incidents no matter how many people are annoyed. - the rules of the game committee should not be a permanent body. It should convene in the form of a conference and be over quickly, to prevent the cycle of "we have to justify our existence". It should also be a MUCH more open and accessible conference than the little clique that forms at present, and the agenda and proceedings should be public. - rule changes should be authentically piloted, as opposed to the 'decision made, now lets do a pilot' system. Technical issues and confusion should be removed before the rule enters the premiership season - the number of rules, particularly on safe play, needs to be greatly reduced. A lot of the documents about AFL rules, especially on safe play, are pointlessly detailed. Consider that most of the safe play rules could be summed up as simply "no head, no feet, no intent to harm". Most of the dodgy decisions made by the MRP and tribunal are the result of usually well-meaning people trying to bureaucratically define a 'comprehensive and detailed' categorisation of offenses. This actually reduced transparency and diffuses responsible decision making, and creates a battle-ground where lawyers are the weapons. - keep Brian Taylor away from any telecommunications device. (part of all good AFL strategy) I think one subtle thing people need to remember is that the purpose of umpiring in AFL is not to correctly and comprehensively adjudicate on every little matter; the goal is to ensure a sufficient overall standard of fair play.

And really players have been moving around for ever and a day -almost always because of money and/or premiership glory. In the 70's there were big players moving all over the place. As JBFossil notes there was Alves and Wells, half of Melbourne's side were from other clubs (Fowler, Big Carl etc) , Norths premierships were built on bought players. Possibly the biggest was Wade who was (and remains) a Cats legend. Carmen, McKenna and Byrne were other examples from the 70's and there were heaps more. In the 80's there were also lots of big name moves - Moore and Templteon being two Melbourne examples. Ryhs Jones, Williams and many others. Easy to forget Brereton went to the Swans and McGuan went to Carlton of all clubs. Loyalty has never been as strong as the current dialogue suggests

I never boo any player that leaves the Dees after he has played 100 games. You never know how good his son will turn out to be.

First 2 blokes have shown nothing (yes i know Scharenbergs been injured) Grundy has potential Adams is a spud

Scharenberg, Freeman, Grundy, Adams, Beams, Reid, Sidebottom, Elliot..... Ummmm I think they'll be ok, and still way ahead of us.

Matt daaamon

Can somebody replace him with Jeremy Cameron in the Demonland banner?

Then we should have dropped him weeks ago

I think the horses mouth wold know how to spell their name correctly

A footballer saying "I will decide at the end of the year" is about as truthful as a real estate agent's quote at an open for inspection.

This is what I am hearing: * Paul Roos will sign for a 3rd year............ its as good as locked in. * There has been informal discussions with Bomber, as senior assistant next year. There is a good chance Bomber will end up at Dees but unsure of what his position will be in a succession plan. * Paul Roos has been working very hard at encouraging target players he wished to bring to the club. This is all unofficial and via managers as season still on. I am told these talks are going VERY well. * Confidence of Frawley staying is low. Club has been preparing for his departure. However, still not 100% that he is leaving.

do not believe a word of that.

Dylan Shiel. Lock the thread.

We had Collingwood players come to our school today, Harry O, Clinton Young and Jonathan Marsh (rookie list). I asked them about Melbourne's improvement and their thoughts on the way we play. It was amazing to hear them say how much harder we are to play against and the competitive edge that has been added over the past year. They also commented on how brutal our defence has become to play against, stating during the Queens birthday game it was tough to break it down. Most of all i was impressed to see the respect that has clearly been instilled into opposition players who no longer take us lightly. This time last year we had Collingwood players, Goldsack and Jamie Elliot to stated we werent too good at the moment. Great to hear.

Good morning, huh?

Dont worry mate its a forum and dont take anything from a forum as an insult. You could be tight but from what I have seen Toump will be fine. Played against men as a 17 YO and know he will come on

when was the extension for the show cause notices granted too?

i think enyaw is probably a friend of jacqui lambie

you're probably right bb one final anal comment from me I took "Sydney win the 2014 Premiership. Longmire succeeds Roos. Again." as meaning "Sydney win the 2014 Premiership. Longmire (as a result) succeeds Roos. Again." instead of "Sydney win the 2014 Premiership. Longmire (then) succeeds Roos. Again." i know...i need help

I'm pretty sure they originally got him via draft tampering...lol...

That one looks terrible to me, much prefer the current one with a bit of tweaking (remove background writing, remove flame over M, remove southern cross, keep the trident and maybe switch around with football)

We've been robbed again.

i true melbourne great.

Was at the game when he took that mark on garry was awesome

They don't call him pig dog for his ability to melt a girls heart.

3 and 4 is more than enough Dean Kent isn't steak knives, the kid will be a gun and we should definitely keep him And how awesome is it that we have already poached 1 GWS gun and there may be more to come Meanwhile they are stuck with $cully Karma is a [censored]

I get annoyed when an umpire makes a mistake as I do when a player does. What I can't stand is the way the umpires are being instructed to officiate the game, it is beyond the joke. The Evans, Campbell, Kennedy regime is an abject failure.

mate, i'm at work and i'm a teacher. Boners aren't really acceptable in my work place, and can get me into a lot of trouble. Stop it right now.

I can't read the full article. But I would think Malceski would be using us as a back up plan. I'm sure his preference is to stay in Sydney but if they don't offer him the coin or years then he'd go with us. I've got absolutely no doubt Roos would be keen on a player of his skill set it's just a matter of price. For a trade to work to avoid our free agency compensation being tarnished (presuming Frawley goes) then we'd have to offer Sydney as much as what they'd get in free agency compensation. I'd say Malceski might get similar to Sylvia in a 2nd round pick. Of course there second round pick might be almost equal to our third round pick. But then again we might need that for Billy Stretch. Just hypotheticals but plenty of water to go under the bridge.

i can't believe we'd recruit a free agent this year that would impact upon our compensation for frawley leaving.

...but it doesn't mean we just let them go, if it's a problem then change the rules. Football has always been a difficult game to umpire with interpretation being a big part of it. What I don't like is that the interpretation changes from Q to Q, game to game, week to week and often umpire to umpire. The thing that I really dislike though is the way the interpretations are being used in a misguided attempt to provide continuous football. It's this that philosophy that plays a big part in the current rugby maul that has come into the game. Pay the decision quickly and move on.

I thought that in the first four or so rounds the umpires seemed to be letting more go and were only paying the really obvious decisions. This is good becuase by doing this they are far more likely to be consistent. If they are paying every little soft decision then as soon as they miss one of these (which will happen becuase of the nature of the game) then all of the sudden they are inconsistent. Umpires will never be 100% consistent but I believe that by only paying the obvious ones they will be far more consistent.

In my opinion it has too many ideas all thrown together. It is directionless because it has so many concepts that none of them end up being a focus. We're the Melbourne Demons, yet there's no use of the word "Demons" anywhere on it. Do we need a Southern Cross to signify we're Australian? Do we need a football to show we play football? What does the trident mean without anything to say we're the Demons? Are we gardeners? Poseidon? Neptune? To me, there's just too much going on and it seems confused. IMO we should be putting ourselves forward as the Melbourne Demons. Simple as that.

It is no secret that I am not a big fan of the current emblem, in fact it just does not grab me one way or the other. I like your effort stuie. I also dislike the blazer intensly. But in the scheme of the things that need changing at the MFC these are running 99th and 100th on a list of 100. for me. Lets consider these when we are pressing for finals games in 2016.